"De Noux, O'Neil -Lucien Caye - Friscoville" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Noux O'Neil)

.......Mrs. Gumm wrung her hands and said, "Does this mean my son
will have a record now, officer?"
......."I'm not the police. I'm a private eye."
.......Frank arrived carrying Amy. Mrs. Gumm took the cat from her
son, unlatched the screen door and shoved Amy at me. She re-latched
the door quickly and wouldn't look at me. Frank Jr. wasn't crying
anymore. He was sticking his tongue out at me.
***.......
.......Juggling Amy, I rang the Hartley's doorbell a half hour
later. Vivian opened the door and leaped at me, grabbing at Amy. The
cat jumped to her, digging claws in my arms in the process.
......."Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my." Vivian was ecstatic. She hugged the
cat and bounced in place, her face beaming.
......."Is your mother home, yet?"
......."No. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"
.......I reached over and tousled her hair and winked at her and
left. I love leaving females smiling and bouncing on their feet.
.......I climbed in the DeSoto and drove straight back to
Friscoville, parking just up from the wooden shotgun in dire need of
paint. I eased my snub-nosed Smith and Wesson .38 out of the glove
box and kept it hidden behind my right leg as I walked around the
magnolia and up to the porch.
.......I knocked hard on the door.
.......The same voice said, "Yeah, who is it?"
......."Are you sure you're not Frank Gumm?"
......."What?" The door opened and that familiar face leered at me
through the screen. "You nuts or something?"
......."Come on," I said with a smile. "You gotta be Frank Gumm."
.......I watched his eyes move as he looked around me, checking to
see if I was alone.
......."Your face has a gummness about it, so you gotta be Frank
Gumm." I said matter-of-factly.
.......He pressed his face against the screen and growled, "Get
lost, stupid."
......."You have a Gumm face." I made a sound like Goofy, the Disney
character. Then I stuck my tongue at him.
.......He unlatched the screen door quickly and shoved it open. I
took a hesitant step back as he came out, his fists clenched. His
momentum took him right to me; and I shoved the snub-nosed barrel
under his chin.
.......He stopped. I grabbed his undershirt with my left hand and
twisted hard and told him to put his hands in his pockets. I pushed
the barrel against the soft flesh under his chin for emphasis. He
obeyed, a hard glint in his dark eyes.
.......I cocked the hammer. "This has a hair-trigger." I gave him a
cold smile.
.......He blinked his eyes and beads of sweat rolled down his right
temple.
......."Now," I said, "you got a phone?"
.......He said, "Uh-huh," but it didn't sound like that with the .38